TO THE PEOPLE OF FANNIN. I propose collecting the claims of the deceased soldiers the Joe Browns free of charge. I will also collect the claims of all the poor widows and representatives of indi¬ gent deceased soldiers in any of the companies from this county, and any other claims, on reasonable terms. By reasonable terms I do not mean the same as the extortioner who construes it to mean two dollars per bushel for corn, and other articles in proportion. Many of these inhuman and heartless rascals are prompted to demand these exorbi¬ tant prices purely for greedy gain ; but by far the largest number of these are blood-suckers, and ever have been, of the deepest dye, and determined in this: J:o freeze and starve the poor soldiers' wives and families, knowing that nothing else could more effectually depress the spirits of our brave soldiers, than to know their families are suffering for food and raiment at home. Reflect a moment. Have you known men in this county going about groaning and sighing for our poor soldiers and their families on account of the great scarcity of provisions, telling it all around in their neighborhood that they have been offered such and such high prices for grain by some unknown individual a little distance off? And then again the same men say to their more patriotic neighbors that they have been requested to buy, as agent for some stran¬ ger, or perhaps one of their own club who understands the secret, and that they are authorized to giver so and so for all they can buy, but in fact and in truth a lie from beginning to end, and done for the express purpose of scaring the whole community, and of raising the price of such articles. The practical effects of extortion from these two classes is the same, and will ruin the Southern cause, if persisted in, by bringing starvation on the land. From a calculation made from my own family expenses for provisions, it will cost a medium size family thirty-three , o dollars per month, to say nothing of clothing, which, if added to this amount, will reach S-50 per month. The soldier's pitiful pay is $14 per month. That will scarcely clothe and shoe himself, and his family is left on its own. resources to raise the $50 per month. Think again, where is this large amount to come from ? The soldier's family can perhaps, at best, manage to clothe themselves if they can raise funds to buy the material by going barefoot, and ret §33 per month is to be raised for bread and meat. 0» where is that to come from ? Ah, you say, the grand jury of last spring levied a tax to support the indigent families of the soldiers. Sure enough, they raised the large sum of $1,000 by a tight squeeze, but first put it to $500, and was shamed out of that by our patriotic Solicitor General. Yes, 1 say they raised the large sum of $1,000 to pay the small amount of $40,000, this being the amount necessary to feed 100 indigent families in the county, according to the foregoing calculation. Magnanimous guardians of the poor! But when I turn to the list of names composing this august assembly I am surprised at their action, for on that list is the name of one Elisha Hunt, a prominent man in his way, than whom a more detestable, squinted, soul¬ less, hypocritical tory—who would have sold his Savior for half the money Judas got, especially if paid in specie— never escaped the gallows in the days of the Revolution. May God help me to forgive him for refusing to sell me one quart of brandy for a sick child, for Confederate money, last winter, aud many acts of a less personal character, such as explaining away the sacred obligations of an oath taken by him to support the C. S. A., for want of legal authority of the J. P. who administered it, thereby men¬ tally reserving to himself the right to commit treason, and laying perjury to his own black soul. What is the use of administering an oath to such a vile, drunken and infamous hypocrite? What a disgrace and slander is he to that re¬ spectable denomination from whose sacred desk he promul¬ gates the notorious lie that the word tory means robber, simply to escape the application of that well known term to himself and friends, and such other like preaching, or rather lying, equally true as this. God help me never to. think of him again, Then there is on the list another big bug, (I would rather say humbug,) the chief bully of Noontootla politics, who, to my certain knowledge, never read a newspaper for six years previous to the commencement of this revolntion. The ' humbugged an hon.es^ and, patriotic soldier into serviceda§ Captain, ,;a»d is; ;nQ*y thus sacrifice their lives for their country and for their cap¬ tain, while he peaceably maintains his strategic position supinely at home, enjoying its comforts and luxuries. The man, ©1* I should rather say the Captain, who loves and serves money as his God, .though for a number of years he has not had a bushel of corn to sell at home to his neigh¬ bors, just as he was this year with me, and others for aught I know, telling my agent he could not spare a bushel, and I had not even a turn to take to mill and had tried nearly everywhere without success to buy some ; but a few weeks ago, when it got to its highest, took off a wagon load, just as he had a right to do, to his Ducktown political friends, who doubtless needed it» But as I do not want to be mis¬ understood, he called himself corn-making Jase when a candidate two years ago. May heaven deliver the soldiers' families from dependence on such corn-makers and jurors. If I had strength I would like to devote a page to sever¬ al others of this liberal, charitable and patriotic body, naming them out; but this I have not, and mention these" two as examples of many other members of smaller fry but similar principles. I am free to acknowledge that some of the members of that jury were of our most patriotic, hon¬ orable and intelligent citizens, who, if they had anticipated the present high prices of provisions, &c., wo.uld, if they could by any possible persuasions, have induced the Union and extortion element of their body to co-operate with them, wrould not have raised $1,000 to pay a debt of $40,000, but under the circumstances did well to get $1,000. I have said this much about the action of the Grand Jury, to prove it a failure to meet the end the legislature intended it to accomplish, having shown this I now ask again how under heavens are these poor innocent and friendless, yet patriotic creatures to be preserved from this miserable and unnecessary end, starvation, and that too while plentjr is in the land, but this avails nothing for them, they have no money to buy it and charity has taken wings except with those who ought not to give. May an allwise Providence overrule all these circumstances and provide means for their sustenance. Yes they must be fed and I will here say to them ?md their friends in the army, they shall be fed though they have not a dollar, while there is as plenty in the county as now,.and if I sli^uld only be able to get about on crutches, I y^iljl^see to this personally, for 4 above all persons, the soldier and his Jamiiy lie nearest my heart, and never, while I retain my proper wind, though my pulse beat feebly as now, will I be content to hold my tongue or pen and see those who deserve so much of the country, to be utterly devoured by the extortion of the land, though my effort be feeble, yet will I resist them while I have strength to pull a trigger. To the almost worn out soldier from Fannin, fight on to victory or death, and at the end of the war when we shall have conquered our inde¬ pendence and peace, which I regard as certain, then will we make full settlement of all we owe these tory extortioners, who doing us much more harm than the Yankees, and in the meantime, your friends at home will look to the wants of your families, and if the tories don't look sharp we will settle with them in part, at least, before the day of final judg¬ ment. Some mens' sins go before them to judgment to con¬ demn them, others follow after them is a scripture decalra- tion. You may ask how am I or by what means I am go¬ ing to prevent this unavoidable calamity coming on the country. As you all know I have not means to buy my own bread long at present rates, I answer, this will depend upon circumstances yet in the future, which I cannot tell now and would not if I could, as it will require a stra- getical movement to the successful execution of which re¬ quires secrecy of him who lays the plan ; but this much I will now say, I propose organizing a company strong for the sole porpose of preventing the starvation of the in¬ digent of the soldier, in consequence of the high price of the extortioners. This is the object but the means of doing this I reserve t® myself to know until its being done. I now appeal to all loyal, true and brave men in Fannin, will¬ ing to enter this kind of service to report to me in person ©r send me their names at once, that I may know who they are and have them subject to my orders. You need not unless you wish to do, let the public know who you are, I will not expose your name until it becomes necessary to assign you to so-me duty. All you who join this company will receive orders from no one but me, and I require them to be executed strictly. The company will all act together under arms if peed be, but I will when the necessity arises^ assign particular duties to special individuals • of one, two, three or more to the various settlements in the county, en¬ joining secresy on them until, and perhaps after these du¬ ties are performed. Each member will be required if need be, to make great sacrifices, undergo hardships and spend time and even to hazard life. The company will act with¬ out pay, regardless of the fear of punishment, favor or af¬ fection, boldly if consistent and if not secretly and in dis¬ guise,. adopting the maxima? bf fighting the devil with fire,, 5 or using his own weapons. Some of you will object to the secresy of the company, of its being governed entirely by one man, but as pleasing anybody is not tnv object, I could not and will not answer these objections further than to- say we have a cunning and secretly organized enemy to meet, and too many counsellors in military matters is not the wiser plan, and if }7ou are not pleased -vyith it you need not become a member. Many of you will say Campbell is crazy, that there is no danger of any one starving; that the price for provisions &c., is the best they can be sold for ; that really if there were any danger of the poor suf¬ fering, you would be as willing as any one to help &c., &c. Just like you did two years ago when I was trying to make a company for the defense of your homes. You asked, then, who was I going to light. You could see no enemy—many of you self same tories. You then said there was no danger—that if there were, you would fight for your country as soon as any man. Now are the identical tories at home trying to starve the soldiers' wives and children. I knew then and told you so, that you were telling lies, and never would fight; that you only wanted to1 deceive the more ignorant and rock them to sleep, until old Abe could get all hold on us. You said then, I could not, nor should not, get a half dozen men in this county to fight for secesh, and will say again, I cannot get men to enter this service, but equally lie now as you did then, for although, now as then, when I look around, I am almost made to ex¬ claim, that patriotism is clean gone forever. Yet when I ! come to make a clear calculation, there are plenty of the right sort of stuff yet here to see that this programme is carried out, and I have no doubt now, as I had none then, that 1 shall succeed in this effort. Yet I am certain I will have great opposition, for, strange to say, every man de¬ nounces extortion, and yet every man, woman and child, black and white, are engaged in it. So even the darkey, who raises a pint of goobers to sell, has caught the spirit of his master, and puts on four-fold when he goes to sell, and therefore having allusion to nearly the whole community, my proposition will not meet their approbation; but having been so often denounced and persecuted, I have got used to it and regard it as a matter of very great indifference whether I receive praise or blame; so that I can have the consciousness of doing my duty. I would not be understood to mean all those who oppos¬ ed me in organizing the Joe Browns to be tories now, for I know many of them itaw to be for the South. Then come on and give me your name, and let us give the tory extor¬ tioners a little round, as there is no danger whatever of the genuine Yankees. We have tried them sufficiently to prove 6 thics but the extortioner, I now predict,- unless checked in his nefarious course, which can and must be done, we shall see many years yet of hard fighting and suffering, before we gain our independence, for an allwise and just God will not prosper a people or nation that tolerate the violation of so plain scriptures as those against the extortioners. To the soldiers' wives, mothers and children I would say, use ail possible industry and economy, and content yourselves with the actual necessaries of life and resolve to be willing to live hard and 011 scanty supplies, for we should be willling to bear these privations and hardships for the present, and ex¬ pect nothing else. With wThat little means you have, make the best trade lor necessaries you can. When that is out, try to buy on a credit. If you cannot get it in this way, ask it as a charity, and at the end of all this, if you fail to get provisions, report yourself to me personally or by letter, or some responsible friend, with proof that you have ex¬ hausted these efforts in vain to get bread, giving me the names of the parties you tried to buy or beg from and of all the circumstances connected therewith, and I will immedi¬ ately devise means for your relief through some of my com¬ pany who may reside near you. I will require members to report to me verbally or in writing, the condition and cir¬ cumstances of their neighbors ; how much corn, pork, cows, &c., and how many in the families, and also their general deportment towards the needy family of the soldier, and also to take such other notice of matters of this kind in their neighborhood as I may from time to time specially give them in charge, reporting their investigation to me as often as required, and to be sure to report the condition of the indigent families of the neighborhood in one month after they become a member, giving me her name and her true condition as to property of any kind, particularly as to mo¬ ney or provisions. I may hsreatter, from time to time, at option, publish such general orders as I may require,. ,or I may give them out secretly to the property holders^ money makers and grain makers, and especially to the extortion tones. I would say in the name of our brave soldiers of Fannin, dead and alive, suffer none of their families, your neighbors to come to want, while you yourself have, whether you ever realize a dollar for it or not, for you can and shall shell out, however much j'ou regret to do so, and therefore you may charge them $3, $4, $5, or $10 for corn, as long as they have money, just as you choose, but your object to starve the women and child¬ ren by asking these prices wi 11 not be accomplished, as the corn mast come, money or no money, and the sooner you learn this, the better for you and for them. A word to the wise is enough, 7 V/ho rvould want to live after their friends are all dead? You may say, then, I ought to want to die. True, un¬ friends arc few, but what I have are friends indeed, hni enough now and ever have been to answer my purposes, and these as true as steel. When I commenced writing^ I only intended to write three or four advertisements to collect claim's, and wrote on until I came to the term reasonable prices, and just here my mind began to lead out on the abuse of that term, and hence what I have written is the true sentiment of my mind just, as presented, and even now, after two or three weeks' med¬ itation, I have no reason to alter or change one word, al« though the style is very poor, but I only set out to please myself. WILLIAM A. CAMPBELL. Morganton, Ga., Nov. 7th, 1SG2.